Glen Moriarty – TV Presenter / Producer

Glen Moriarty is a Melbourne based presenter and producer of the popular Victorian travel program – Postcards on Channel Nine. He is also the host for Collingwood Football Club’s own digital show on CTV and hosts their Foxtel program ‘The Club’. Also acting as MC for Collingwood home games for AFL Media – Glen is one busy guy.

Glen started out in the 90’s as a model and is widely known around the industry as a top bloke (what you see is what you get). He is a real salt of the earth guy with a super friendly personality, so it’s been awesome to see his career go from strength to strength over the years.

I would have to say that I reckon Glen has one of the best jobs going. He is a great example of making a career out of of what you love doing. If you figure out your passion, this usually leads you to your purpose in your life’s work and then it doesn’t feel like work at all. One of my fave sayings is “doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness”. Based on this – I reckon Glen is one happy man.

Q & A:

1) You’ve been in the TV biz since roughly 2005 when you joined Post Cards as a presenter. Did you always want to be in TV and how did you get into it? / Did you have to do any training to improve your presenting skills, or did you just learn on the job?

I loved doing drama at school and was always interested in stage & screen. I did acting classes when I was 18, but my break came at 19 years old when I was working at the Saloon Bar in South Yarra, helping one of the owner’s friends with his white goods business. One day I was delivering a fridge & the lady whose house it was asked me if I’d done any acting or modeling. I thought she was a lonely housewife who was cracking onto me! As it turned out she was a casting agent named Maria Efthymiopoulos (now owner of 2 Divas Casting). She cast me for my first commercial and said I should get an agent. I signed with a model agency and it went from there.

I started getting regular work on TV commercials, photographic & fashion shows. Then one night when I was working at the Saloon Bar one of the regulars who came in was a producer from Grundy’s who worked on Channel 9′s Sale Of The Century and said one of the models on the show had quit and that I should come into Grundy’s to meet the casting director for the show. He told me to “shut up and do what I say and the job’s yours”.

I worked on Sale Of The Century for a few years and traveled to Europe working in London and Milan. I returned to Australia and studied acting part time at Victorian College Of The Arts, which really helped with auditioning for acting roles. Unfortunately Sale of the Century got axed, but I kept modeling & worked nights as a doorman in a few different clubs.

I also worked with my Dad in the family business, but it wasn’t for me. I got my first acting role as a guest on The Secret Life of Us and then scored my first hosting role on Search for a Supermodel in 2002. Acting was my main focus, but at nearly 6 foot 5″ it was always going to be a challenge. I was tall in modeling terms but in acting terms I was a giant! I kept plugging away and in 2005 I started with Postcards. It’s the dream job and I pretty much got thrown into the deep end with both roles as a presenter and producer learning on the job with the help of the team around me. I’ve been really lucky to be involved in such a great show and work at Channel 9 with some great people.

2) Apart from the TV presenting – you also work as a model, freelance photographer, producer …
Who have been some of your greatest creative (or other) influences whilst growing up?

My Mum always encouraged me to perform, whether it was dancing around with her in the kitchen or making her laugh with my Frank Spencer impersonations from Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em.

One of my greatest creative influences was working as a photographer’s assistant for photographer Alex Donnini. He taught me a lot and encouraged me to start shooting. Earl Carter was another photographer who I really looked up to and I was really into photography before putting it on the back burner when I started working on Postcards.

Photography taught me all about lighting, exposure and framing and those skills transferred into helping me understand how film and television cameras work. My regular cameraman on Postcards Rob Trezise has been a huge influence on me and has encouraged me to get behind the camera, which has now lead to me shooting everything from television, commercials, documentaries and film clips.

3) You have recently landed a gig with Collingwood Football Club as their MC as well as helping out with their in-house TV platform called – CTV and The Club. Being a huge Collingwood fan his must be your dream job… Give us a bit of a run down on this gig, how it came about and what it entails for you on weekly basis in footy season.

I grew up barracking for Collingwood and was never good enough to play for them so working for the club is a dream come true. I was asked to MC some events for them and then progressed to doing post match interviews for CTV our digital TV show. In 2012 I was asked to host their Foxtel show “The Club” and also be the on ground MC at Collingwood home games for AFL Media, which is a great gig. There’s nothing like being on the MCG when there’s nearly 100,000 people at the game, which for the pies is nearly every week.

My role on The Club includes shooting stories for the show, which is another part of the job I really enjoy. It’s a great insight into the player’s lives and everything that happens on and off the ground at the football club.

4) You’ve met some interesting people and have got to travel to some pretty cool destinations as part of your work with Post Cards. What has been the stand out destination/story or most interesting situation you’ve covered for the show so far?

It’s so hard to pick just one place that stands out and we get to travel around Australia and the world. So many of the best places we visit are right here in Victoria.

As a surfer I love the Great Ocean Road and some of the amazing places to stay on the coast.

We did a trip to Hawaii recently, as a surfer it was a place I fell in love with. I went to Antarctica Earlier this year, which was probably the most amazing place I’ve ever seen. A recent trip to Marysville was very inspiring. We filmed with a guy called Bruno Torfs who owns Bruno’s Art & Sculpture Garden. Like most of the people from Marysville he lost everything, but he rebuilt his studio and the sculpture garden so people would come back. It was a heartening experience.

5) What do you love most about your work? / What have been the biggest challenges for you in your career, if any?

My job combines all the things I’m passionate about. I’m involved in the creative process from start to finish working with some very talented people and the end product is something I’m always so proud of. With Postcards, I love the fact that I get to travel to beautiful places and meet so many great people, plus everyone is always so grateful to have us come and film their businesses for the show. The feedback we get from the show is also very encouraging.

My job with Collingwood is really unique. I’m a fan of the club like all the other supporters, but I get to be involved in day to day life at the club, the highs and lows of match day and to create content that allows all the supporters to have an insight into the club. It’s something special.

The biggest challenge is the landscape of the television industry with the advertising revenue slowly drying up. Without advertising the industry will struggle to survive and that’s a worry for everyone involved.

6) What’s the best or worst of career advice you’ve ever had?

I’ve had all sorts of bad advice over the years, mainly from people who try to get you to be more like them or someone else they’d prefer you to be, but it’s always important to be yourself. There’s also been a lot of the “Melbourne is just a big country town and the industry is too small” … “You’ll never make enough money to survive from the entertainment industry here” Blah blah blah… Just your typical small-minded nonsense.

7) What do you do for fun or fitness in your down time when you’re not working? (apart from eating Andrews Hamburgers!)

HA! Well, I do love Andrews Burgers, they’re definitely part of my health regime! I grew up surfing and still try to get in the water a couple of days a week or I go a bit crazy. I kick the footy twice a week with a bunch of guys in St Kilda and walk my dogs every day. I love sports, but I’m not really into exercise and I’ve never been a gym person, so I like anything that involves the outdoors.

8) As a creative person – who and what inspire you or are you passionate about?

Film, theatre, music, art, nature and travel are all things that I’m passionate about that inspire me creatively, especially when you can combine them for the ultimate adventure. Spending time in the ocean is both cleansing and inspiring.

9) As a proud Victorian/Melbournian and having the opportunity to get out and see more of this great city of ours than the usual Joe Blow – can you give us some of your fave hot spots Re. coffee/food/music/secret gems or other …

Coda and Tonka are my two favorite places to eat in Melbourne. For the best desserts in town Le Petit Gateau.

Goldilocks bar or their rooftop and awesome cocktails.

Danny Colls is still doing Melbourne’s best coffee at his newest venture Hawthorne Common. The Wye River General Store is a great place to stop on the coast and of course Andrews Hamburgers in Albert Park!

10) What’s next for you? Any other interesting projects on the horizon/collaborations or future goals you are yet to achieve?

I’ve been doing charity work for the Royal Melbourne Hospital Music therapy program putting together video clips of the songs the patients do – and I love it.

My role with the Collingwood Football Club keeps growing and they have big plans for the media department and Collingwood TV, which is really exciting.

I’m always working on new ideas. I’ve started filming a pilot for a TV series I’d like to try and get funding for and develop further. I’m also working on my first script for a feature film. Stay tuned!